Front Burner (CBC)

Episode: How different are the party platforms?
Host: Jayme Poisson
Date: April 23, 2025

Overview: Main Theme

This episode focuses on comparing the key domestic policy promises of Canada’s major federal parties ahead of the 2025 general election. Host Jayme Poisson speaks with experts to help listeners understand both the differences and similarities in party platforms on housing, climate change, cost of living, and crime and justice. The aim is to cut through party spin, clarify where real “daylight” exists between platforms, and equip voters with clear, issue-based context.

Segment 1: Housing – Comparing Party Promises

Guest: Mike Moffatt (Economist, Missing Middle Initiative)
Timestamps: 03:26–11:19

Housing Supply: Incentives vs. Enforcement

• Liberals:

  • Build on the current $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund, incentivizing cities to permit higher-density housing and faster approvals.
  • Plan to better monitor municipal performance, acknowledging current monitoring has been “subpar”.

    “Even the Liberals would acknowledge that... one of the planks in their platform is better monitoring of municipal performance.” — Mike Moffatt (04:00)

• NDP:

  • Double the Accelerator Fund to $8 billion, making this a more ambitious version of the Liberal approach.

• Conservatives:

  • Criticize the Accelerator Fund as a failure, prefer a "stick" approach, requiring municipalities to allow 15% more homes per year to access federal funds.
  • Plan to sell off federal land to speed up development, contrasting with the Liberal plan to lease land.

• Expert Take:

  • The Conservative and Liberal plans differ in style rather than substance, mainly as “stick vs. carrot”, but both ultimately tie funding to housing targets.
  • Selling federal land could raise money quickly but reduces long-term public control and potential future value. Leasing allows for future revenue and strategic objectives.

Housing Affordability: Tax Levers

• Conservatives:

  • Propose removing GST on all new homes under $1.3 million.
  • Criticized for the broad scope, which could benefit investors and those buying second homes.

    “This would allow an investor to buy up a bunch of new homes and rent them out... probably not the best use of federal money.” — Mike Moffatt (09:31)

• Liberals:

  • GST removal only for first-time buyers of new or substantially renovated homes under $1 million.
  • More narrowly targeted, thus less costly, but also less transformative.

• NDP:

  • Focus on expanding rental supply and protections for renters.

Renters: Diverging Focus

• Liberals:

  • Plan to revive the MERB program from the 1970s, incentivizing small-scale rental construction.

• NDP:

  • Link federal housing investment to provincial and municipal rent control measures.
  • “If any province or municipality wants federal investments... they have to put in place laws that protect renters.” — NDP policy (11:05)

• Conservatives:

  • Little specifically for renters.

Segment 2: Climate Change – Competing Priorities

Guest: Arno Capechi (Climate Journalist, National Observer)
Timestamps: 11:41–18:56

Overview of Party Contrasts

• Liberals:

  • Would maintain and gradually strengthen existing climate plans (carbon pricing, EV mandates, oil sands emissions cap).
  • Proposing a large-scale east-west clean electricity grid, aiming for energy independence and job creation.

    “That would be a major nation-building project... provide us independence from Americans, which is, of course, a huge thing right now.” — Arno Capechi (15:40)

• Conservatives:

  • Plan to dismantle Liberal climate policies (carbon tax, emissions caps).
  • Emphasize expanding exports of Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reduce global emissions, advocating to change Paris Agreement accounting so Canada gets credit for foreign emission reductions.

    “Poliev only wants to build pipelines in every conceivable direction.” — Arno Capechi (12:05) “It boils down to exporting more natural gas.” — Arno Capechi (12:48)

• Critique:

  • Conservative plan relies on optimistic assumptions about global emissions and international recognition.

Climate on the Campaign Trail

• Conservative leader Poliev: Has not raised climate at press conferences except to mock "radical net zero environmental extremism" (14:16).
• Implementation Caveats:
  • Liberal emissions plans promise progress toward Paris targets if existing and future policies are fully upheld—a meaningful “capital IF”.

    “Right now, we’re on track to get about 90% of the way there if we apply a full court press from here on in.” — Arno Capechi (16:25)

Climate Adaptation: A Blind Spot

• Greens: Only party to prioritize climate adaptation.
• Liberals & Conservatives: Both have committed little funding and attention to adaptation measures for floods, fires, and resilience infrastructure.

  “The Liberals, I think, have given $40 million to climate adaptation, which... you could buy 10 houses in Vancouver for that, but you can't protect communities all over the country.” — Arno Capechi (18:00)

Segment 3: Cost of Living & Economic Growth

Guest: Anis Heydari (CBC Senior Business Reporter)
Timestamps: 19:42–27:57

Tax Cut Promises: Who Gains Most?

• Conservatives:

  • Lower lowest federal income tax bracket from 15% to 12.75%.
  • Estimate: Puts ~$900/year back for the average worker; benefits those earning $40,000+.

• Liberals:

  • Reduce the same bracket to 14% (~$400/year benefit for average earner).

• NDP:

  • Increase the basic personal amount so first $20,000 of income is tax free—greater benefit for those earning $50k–60k.

• Targeting:

  • Conservative and Liberal plans provide little benefit for those under $30,000 income.

• Other Tax Policies:

  • Conservatives: Extra TFSA contribution room (targeted at those with savings); promise to keep capital gains taxes reduced; more direct tax cuts for seniors.
  • NDP: Would reinstate and expand the capital gains tax to help pay for social programs.

Social Programs & Affordability

• Liberals and Conservatives:
  • Say current recipients of daycare, pharmacare, and dental care won’t lose them; unclear about future expansion, particularly in Conservative platform.
• NDP:
  • Promise to expand daycare and create a broader pharmacare program—paid for by higher capital gains taxes.

Funding Promises: “Fairy Dust” Economics

• Both Major Parties:
  • Rely on optimistic economic growth and revenue from tariffs to fund promises, but details are sparse and heavily caveated.

    “For all we know, they could be deciding to buy a pony for every Canadian and... we’ll see all sorts of economic stimulation in, I don’t know, horse feed.” — Anis Heydari (26:20)

• Realism in a Trade War:
  • Both US and China are hitting Canada with tariffs; little clarity on how either party’s plans will weather ongoing global economic instability.

Segment 4: Crime, Policing & Justice

Guest: Peter Zimonjic (CBC Senior Writer)
Timestamps: 28:12–35:18

Gun Policy: Punishment vs. Policing

• Liberals:
  • Expand gun buyback for assault firearms; more regulatory tweaks targeting licenses and “red flag” laws to keep guns from dangerous people.

    “We will quickly, and I mean quickly reinvigorate the buyback of assault style firearms and leave the classification of new firearm models to the RCMP, to the experts, not to the gun industry.” — Mark Carney (29:24)

• Conservatives:
  • Scrap the gun buyback and instead introduce harsh mandatory minimums for serious firearms offenses.

    “They want to give people life sentences for human traffickers, for gun smugglers and mass fentanyl producers.” — Peter Zimonjic (30:21)

Overall Justice Philosophy

• Conservatives:
  • Emphasize harsh, mandatory sentences and the use of “three strikes” legislation.
• Liberals:
  • Prefer incremental tweaks, prescriptive reforms, and support for police work.
  • Both agree on tackling intimate partner violence, bail reform, and on consecutive sentencing for the most serious offenders.

The Notwithstanding Clause

• Notable moment:
  • Conservative leader Poliev says he’ll use the constitutional notwithstanding clause to allow consecutive life sentences for multiple murders—first-ever suggested federal use.
  • Critics, including Carney, say this is a dangerous precedent that could erode constitutional rights.

    “There's a real concern... that it's a dangerous, slippery slope to get into the stage of saying that, okay, well, we're going to pass a law that we know is unconstitutional.” — Peter Zimonjic (33:55)

Online Crime

• Liberals:
  • Advocate expanding criminal liability for sharing non-consensual images and child exploitation online; promise new measures but without detailed plans.

Notable Quotes

• “It's the same thing where it's like, do what I say and perform the way we want you to perform or else you're not getting our money.”
  — Mike Moffatt on party approaches to municipal housing (05:00)
• “Poliev only wants to build pipelines in every conceivable direction.”
  — Arno Capechi (12:05)
• “There is like a real level of fairy dust in these costed platforms.”
  — Jayme Poisson (26:30)
• “We will strengthen firearms licensing and the so-called yellow and red flag laws that keep weapons out of the hands of those who are a risk to themselves or others.”
  — Mark Carney (29:48)
• “This is a dangerous, slippery slope to get into... to pass a law that we know is unconstitutional.”
  — Peter Zimonjic (33:55)

Key Timestamps

• Housing Policy Breakdown: 03:26–11:19
• Climate Policy Comparison: 11:41–18:56
• Cost of Living & Economics: 19:42–27:57
• Crime & Justice: 28:12–35:18

Summary Takeaway

The parties’ platforms reflect core ideological differences: Liberals emphasize ongoing national projects, incremental reforms, and targeted incentives; Conservatives promise sweeping change, harsher penalties, and market-focused housing and economic strategies; the NDP focus mostly on expanding safety nets and tenant protections.

On most domestic policies, the differences are more about style, scope, and the intended beneficiaries—less about innovating in entirely new directions. The realism of all their “costed” promises remains questionable, especially amid global economic headwinds and policy uncertainty.

This episode is essential listening for voters seeking substantive, plain-language distinctions among party platforms on issues that most impact daily life in Canada.